The United Nations Framework for Combating Terrorist Financing

For most countries, obligations to counter terrorist financing are enshrined in the existing United Nations framework.

United Nations Framework for Combating the Financing of Terrorism

With the increase in terrorist threats globally in recent decades and the concurrent changes in typologies of terrorist financing, the UN Security Council has adopted further resolutions, mainly under Chapter VII, to address emerging routes of terrorist financing. The new resolutions also aim to address the nexus between terrorists and organised crime groups, in addition to combating funds raised through kidnapping for ransom. In Resolution 2462 (2019), the UN Security Council expressed its concern about terrorist financing, in particular the flow of money to terrorists and the need to combat all forms of terrorist financing.

In 2020, the Global Programme on Detecting, Preventing, and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (CTF Programme) was launched. Its objective was to leverage the efforts of the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Office (UNOCT) and the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Centre (UNCCT) in countering the financing of terrorism, as authorized by the Security Council through resolutions 1373 (2001) and 2462 (2019) and by the General Assembly’s Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy. Under this programme, the UN Counter-Terrorism Office and the UN Counter-Terrorism Centre are mandated to support Member States on various CTF issues in a coordinated, results-oriented, and sequential manner.

Program Mandate

There have been several occasions on which the UN Security Council has discussed the issue of CTF. These include Resolution 2133 (2014) which contains provisions for kidnapping and hostage-taking by terrorists, Resolution 2178 (2014) on suppressing the financing, flow of foreign terrorist fighters and all other support to terrorist groups in Syria and Iraq, Resolution 2195 (2014) on preventing terrorists from profiting from transnational organized crime, and Resolution 2199 (2015) which seeks to prevent terrorist syndicates in Syria and Iraq from profiting from the trade in antiquities, hostages and oil, and from receiving donations.

The United Nations Security Council, in its Resolution 2253 (2015), expanded and strengthened its al-Qaeda sanctions agenda to focus on the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (or ISIL) and outlined efforts to dismantle its channels of support and financing. The growing threat posed by ISIL is further captured in Resolution 2331 (2016), the aim of which is to eliminate the financing of terrorism derived from acts of gender-based violence and sexual violence, including trafficking in persons. Resolution 2347 (2017) focuses on preventing and combating the illicit trafficking in and trafficking of cultural heritage originating from areas affected by armed conflict, in particular between terrorist groups, including the prohibition of cross-border trafficking in such items.

Finally, Member States were called upon to address the urgent issue of suppressing terrorist financing, Resolution 2462 (2019), a landmark resolution. This resolution marked an important step in the international community’s efforts to combat terrorist financing by merging existing commitments while expanding them to include emerging issues in terrorist financing and addressing key concerns regarding the negative impact of counter-terrorism measures on humanitarian programming, while stressing the importance of consolidating international cooperation to ensure the exchange of relevant financial intelligence.

The United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy also emphasizes the importance of countering the financing of terrorism. In its biennial review resolutions, it encourages the various UN bodies to continue to assist member states in implementing their international obligations to counter terrorist financing.

Program Activities

The United Nations Counter-Terrorism Centre (UNCCT) prepares and plans capacity-building workshops for interested Member States. These workshops cover a wide range of topics. The aim of the workshops is to improve the capacity of designated national authorities in the field of managing and combating terrorist financing.

The UNCCT works closely with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the Executive Directorate of the Committee on Counter-Terrorism (CTED) to provide capacity-building support in combating terrorist financing.

Use of technology

Technology has also played an important role in the international CTF effort. For example, the CTF program is developing the software “goFintel” in collaboration with the Office of Information and Communication Technology. The software will help member states work together and properly address financial transactions that could potentially be used to finance terrorism.

Impact of the program

UNCCT played an instrumental role in developing the Counter-Financing of Terrorism Regional Operational Plan for the Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group (ESAAMLG). Both plans were successfully adopted by the jurisdictions under ESAAMLG.

In 2018 and 2019, the UNCCT also assisted Tunisia in adopting and implementing a decree allowing the country to designate individuals and groups linked to terrorism.

Since 2018, UNCCT has organised thirty capacity-building workshops on CTF, involving stakeholders from over thirty countries and two thousand officials. Countries that have benefited from the regional and capacity-building workshops include Mongolia, Bahrain, Tunisia, Tajikistan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Bangladesh and the eighteen Member States of the ESAAMLG.

Final thoughts

Terrorist organizations require funds to operate and carry out terrorist acts. Terrorist financing refers to the means and methods that terrorist organizations use to finance their operations. This money can come from legitimate sources, such as corporate profits and charitable donations. Terrorist organizations can also raise funds through illegal activities such as arms, drug, or human trafficking, or kidnapping for ransom.